Ghost in the Ruins
by Mountain King
Summary: Written for a challenge over on Twisting The Hellmouth. Buffy finds herself... Elsewhere. And things aren't that friendly.


Ghost in the Ruins

Introduction:-

Twisting the Hellmouth's October challenge:- surprise crossover shorts. (Challenge 8481) I've wanted to play in this sandbox for awhile so here we go…

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Buffy had a splitting headache. She'd never had one like it. Well there was that time she was recovering from that cursed beer back in college. And that one time back in L.A. after she'd sent Angel to hell, but even then it hadn't hurt like this.

Her whole body ached and not in a good way. It as like someone had used her as a punching bag, only not quite as fun. Lying there, on what felt like a pile of rocks, Buffy tried to piece together what happened, where she was and just how she had gotten there.

Big fight with Glory. Check. Climb giant tower built by crazy people to save her sister. Check. Throw creepy knife guy off said tower. Check. Find out the portal was already open and things were really bad. Check. Give inspirational speech to Dawn. Check. Throw herself off the tower, into portal; saving her friends, sister, puppies, christmas and incidentally the world. All big checks in the column.

There was one thing missing. The check on the part marked dead. Given how she felt that might have been preferable.

There were other things. Things she really didn't understand. Buffy could remember falling. Falling a long, long way but not down. She had fallen up, quiet how Buffy knew that was a mystery to her, but that wasn't the only one. After falling up she had a few brief memories of another portal, hitting something hard and a lot of noise.

Explosions, flashes of light and being picked up. Then nothing. Until now.

Right now she felt as weak as a half drowned kitten, her stomach was protesting and she had never felt so thirsty. She didn't think she had the strength to lift her head, let alone move. 'You hungry?' A gruff voice growled. 'You've not eaten in two days.'

Fighting to open her eyes Buffy half expected to be blinded by a bright light. Instead she was in a ruin. The room was half collapsed, piles of bricks and god only knew what were piled in the corners. The roof was a canvas pulled tightly across what walls still stood. A dull orange lamp hung off a nail casting pale shadows and was just enough to see with.

There was another light, a tiny camping stove. A shape was huddled over it. A massive hunched figure. She could see they had a big bushy beard, but almost nothing else of their face. 'I know you're awake.' He told her. 'I should tell someone, but you want something to eat first?'

Her throat was dry. It took Buffy a couple of swallows, but eventually she croaked out; 'A drink?'

'Sacra or Caf?'

Buffy didn't know what either of those were 'Water.' she asked. 'Just water.'

'Purifier's on the blink. We haven't had clean water in two months.' He said and then stood up. It wasn't impossible, he was huge. Buffy was easily the size of just one of his arms, with room to spare. With only a couple of strides he was by her side. From between his massive fingers he pulled out a tube. 'Here, Ration paste. Tastes bad but it's got water in it.'

They tore off the top and squeezed the tube into the corner of her mouth. He was right about the taste, but Buffy couldn't care less. It was cold and wet. Finally able to move she pushed the tube away 'Where, where am I?' She asked after getting her breath back.

'Can't say.' He rumbled before stepping up and walking out. Buffy wanted to follow but she was still far too weak. She could barely pull herself up, even with Slayer healing.

Big and beardy was gone nearly an hour, by which time her stomach was rumbling again. It was probably the worst hour of her life. With nothing else to do she'd tested every muscle she could think of. From the way she hurt she had to have broken something. Probably her back, maybe her shoulder too. It was healing, but that still made her stiff all over.

When he came back she was sitting up. 'Hi, again.' she tried to smile, but it came off as more of a wince.

She was about to introduce herself when someone else came in. He was tall, but not as tall as the first guy. No one could be. The second guy was thin, lean thin. If beardy was a giant block of muscle this guy was a razor blade. Sheathed in a giant long coat, oversized hat and a cloak.

His face was still in shadow, but she could see his cheek bones even under the brim of the hat. They were even bigger than Spike's. 'Who are you?' he asked. His accent no where near Beardy's. If she had to guess the bird thing on his hat meant he was an officer. Which meant she was in a war somewhere. So not of the good.

'Who are you?' she shot back. That was the wrong move. Coat moved like a snake. He wasn't vampire or slayer speed, but he was close. He drew a long thick sword from his belt and held it unto her. The blade screamed into life and Buffy could just about make out what looked like a row of sharp teeth spinning a few inches from her. 'Is that a chainsaw sword?' she asked, impressed. 'Where can I get one?'

He moved it closer.

'Buffy, My name's Buffy Summers.' She lent back. At full strength she could probably take him but that cool sword would have been a problem. Then there was Beardy, who could probably snap her like a twig. 'Do I get to know your name, or what I'm doing here?'

'Gaunt, Colonel Commissar Ibram Gaunt.' He lowered the weapon. Tanith First and Only. You fell through a warp portal in the middle of a raid against a Chaos shrine. That makes you either a Daemon or very lucky.'

'I'll go with the very lucky part.' Buffy offered. 'It means probably not dying and I'm not a demon.'

'I'm going to give you a chance to prove that.' He told her. 'I've sent for an Inquisitor. They will arrive shortly. Until then Bragg and a few others have agreed to guard you. Try to leave, escape or hurt my men They will kill you without a second thought.' Gaunt spun on his heel and left, that coat of his billowing around him in a way that would make Angel jealous.

'I guess for once someone's going to expect the Spanish Inquisition.' She quipped weakly. Beardy, or Bragg but she preferred Beardy, frowned at her. 'Not a Python fan. Right. So, did you say something about coffee?'

End Ghost in the Ruins.

Authors Note:-

Buffy, transported into the middle of the Sabbat Crusade. I can think of worse places. Not very many but still. Think the First World War, but in a far future against demons from your darkest nightmares, foul twisted monstrosities that were once men and outlandish psychic powers preying on the weak.

Basically what happens when hell spits forth it's most disturbing denizens for a party.

Disclaimer:-

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was created by Joss Weadon and is owned by Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox. Colonel Commissar Ibram Gaunt and Trooper Bragg were created by Dan Abnett and are owned by Games Workshop. Who are incredibly protective of their IP


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